Our new paddler friend Robbie is taking Charlene's class and seeks advice regarding the purchase of a sprayskirt and a paddle.....anyone have some advice.....

My advice on a paddle is to spend some money........I paddled with a crappy aluminum shaft paddle for about 18 months.....it sucked, it was heavy and it wore on my joints during long paddling days.........you can demo paddles at the NOC.....I can let you borrow my aluminum shaft until the class trip on the 11th. Also, if you look at boatertalk.com, there are often used paddles for sale.......I really like my Werner 197cm carbon bent shaft player........often times folks are pretty sold on their particular model....there is alot of personal preference that goes into paddle selection.

Spray skirt......just make sure it fits your boat........I had a bungee cord type skirt for a while and I like my mountain surf with a fixed rim rather than the bungee cord.

Go ahead and get a good paddle. If you can afford a Werner, buy a Werner. The length will depend on the paddler's size. I'm 5'10" and use a 197cm, but could use a 194 or maybe even smaller.

As for a sprayskirt, I would recommend Mountain Surf or Immersion Research. Both are good quality skirts and if you have any problems they both have excellent customer service. They're not cheap either, but if you can find the bucks, it's worth it.

Skirt: I have had a few. Best luck with mountain surf. I have 2 of them. Shread ready is great for a while. then it will start leaking. My Harmony skirt started seaping water then the tunnel ripped. Those are the only Skirts I know anything about.

Carbon rocks. Anyone who's sat in an eddy next to curt's "fiberglass death blade" learns this the hard way (i've still got fiberglass shards in my arm)

I'd suggest going with less feather than 45, i'd highly recommend getting a 30 degree.
Also dont go too long....most shops are going to try to sell you that 220cm they have had sitting there for 10 years.

I love my Aquabound. I have the Shred
They are really affordable, i think around 100 bucks or less for the carbon injected blade/carbon shaft model. The blades wear down rather than splinter.

Robbie - I started with a Werner straight shaft player paddle without really testing out many others. I have paddled around a few times with an aluminum blade and agree with Sean in that they can wear you out. Bent shafts don't seem to feel that much different to me. Go with something better than aluminum. Check ebay for Werner and others - you can get a good deal sometimes, but be careful on how much you bid I've seen some people pay more than retail for a used paddle. idiots.

Oh, and if you are looking for custom made hand paddles in your choice of colors may I recommend RNJ Propulsion coming to a dealer (me) near you this summer. :wink: